An Experiment with Lentils

When I participated in the Burlington Adventure Boot Camp I was able to go on a grocery store tour where the co-owner of the camp spent time with us walking the aisles and showing us different low cost healthy options. One of the things he introduced us to was lentils: a small bean high in fiber, protein and B vitamins. Now, I’d seen the bags on the bottom shelf filled with small colorful pebbles but had always been unsure of what to do with them. I didn’t know if you soaked them or washed them or boiled them. It wasn’t until the grocery store tour where I heard about the health benefits and the low, low cost of them that I finally decided to get a bag and have a go. Well, that was a month and a half ago, but who’s counting. Yesterday I decided since the staples in my pantry were getting low, I’d try them out.  

The brand I used

After searching the web for something that would be appealing to me being health conscious and my husband who is a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy, I decided on a recipe called Veggie Balls from the Kitchen Daily section of the Huffington Post and modified it based on what I had in the house. (click the link above for the original recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 cups lentils
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

The first thing I did was wash the lentils and pick out the couple of them that didn’t look so great. Then I put the washed lentils and enough water to boil the lentils in (the same as you would do for pasta) in a medium sized pot and brought it to a boil on high heat. Now, this may not seem so hard but let me caution you to pay attention. I didn’t. My water boiled over and I had a lovely lentil-y mess to clean up. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for up to 25 minutes. The Recipe says to cook until the lentils are soft but not falling apart. (My lentils cooked fast and were falling apart but they worked fine. (I’m off to a great start, huh: boiling over and mushy, lol)) Drain them and allow them to cool.

While the lentils were cooking I chopped the carrots and celery as finely as I could so that my carnivorous husband couldn’t pick out the pieces. I chopped up the onion at the very last second because inevitably the tears were streaming down my face and I had to walk away from everything to get a handle on the stinging in my eyes. (I should have cut it under cold running water to help with the gas that’s released when you cut through the onions “cell membranes” because I know I’m overly sensitive.) Once my tears were under control and I’d wiped up the mascara running down my face I added 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a large frying pan and sautéed the onions, carrots, celery, garlic (I used minced from a jar because that was all I had), and salt over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables were tender and just beginning to turn a golden brown. Then, I transferred the mixture to a bowl and allowed it to cool to room temperature.

So, because my lentils ended up a bit mushy, I had to do some recon work to help get rid of the extra water so after I put the veggies in a bowl to cool I transferred the lentils to a pan and cooked most of the excess water out. Then I popped the bowl of the cooling lentils into the fridge for 10 minutes because they were supposed to be cooling at the same time as the veggies. Oops. Oh well, the fridge did the trick. When they were both relatively cool, I added the lentils to the vegetable mixture.

Next, I added the eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, and parsley, to the cooled vegetable mixture and mixed by hand until everything was thoroughly incorporated. Make sure to take your jewelry off, this was just like mixing ground turkey or beef for meatballs. Once it’s mixed, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 25 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil into a 9x13-inch baking dish (I used glass) and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface and set it aside to be filled with the balls you’re going to form. Then, the same way you would using meat, I rolled the mixture into round, golf ball-size  balls and placed the balls in the baking dish, allowing a little space between them and placed them in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid like the recipe suggested. Next I popped them in the oven on the bottom rack for 30 minutes so they were cooked through.

After I let them cool for 5 minutes I made everyone in the house try them: My husband, my father and my two year old. EVERYONE liked them! My two year old said “Ooo, its nummy!!” and carried the veggie ball around with her until she’d devoured it. My husband said, in a surprised voice, “Huh, these are actually pretty good” and proceeded to eat 4 of them dipped in mustard. The mustard was actually a good pairing with them as their taste reminded me of a homemade veggie burger I had once at a local restaurant. Nice thinking Jer! My Dad said “These are different” as he took a few of them to eat on a plate. That reaction was good enough for me!

So even though the process was a little intensive, and even with my couple of cooking mishaps (which were actually quite minimal when it comes to my usual performance) the end result was defiantly a positive one as everyone agreed that they were good. They would be great for a party as an appetizer to share or if formed into patties they could be eaten as a veggie burger. Today I reheated a couple of them and topped them with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Delish!!!

Left overs given new life

I’d say it was a successful experiment!

Enjoy,

Betsey